Mexico

An excursion to shops, hotels, homes, museums and other treasures found in this vibrant country.

A 61-meter-long swimming pool winds past the guest bungalows at Casa Triton, the retreat architect Marco Aldaco and associate architect Humberto Muro built next to the owners’ original house in Costa Careyes, Mexico. “We considered the land, the view and the spirit of the place,” says Aldaco. (October 2006)

Photo: David O. Marlow

Designer Norma King and her husband, architect John King, rebuilt a villa in Ajijic, Mexico. “The high doorways add to the elegance of the dining room,” say Norma King. “I kept the interiors simple, with Moroccan-style touches like lanterns and tile floors.” (September 2005)

Photo: Scott Frances

Casa Buena Vida, the residence of interior designer Peter Bowman and his wife, Tari, is nestled atop a hill overlooking Banderas Bay in Puero Vallarta, Mexico. A 20-foot-high pyramidal brick ceiling, which culminates in an off-center skylight, rises over the master bedroom, where an untitled 1977 painting by Farar Wilson joins a 19th-century painted figure, a 1920s Guatemalan chest and a steel bed frame designed by Bowman. (August 2006)

Photo: David O. Marlow

Hotelito Desconocido is an environmentally sensitive resort set in a nature preserve on the Costa Alegre in Mexico. The hotel has no electricity, using candles and solar energy instead. Bridges cross the estuary’s channels and connect the various guest bungalows. (August 1999)

Photo: Erhard Pfeiffer

“I wanted to balance vernacular design with an efficient modern life,” architect Alex Possenbacher says of Casa Nautilus, his client’s residence on the Pacific coast in Careyes, Mexico. At the request of his client, Possenbacher incorporated many curves into the design. A banquette with comfortable striped cushions winds along the arched facade of the master bedroom. (August 2003)

Photo: Michael Calderwood

For his client’s site on Mexico’s Banderas Bay, architect Diego Villaseñor conceived an exotic multiwinged experience, one where water is seemingly omnipresent and the architectural lines are derived from the natural surroundings, including the shapes of the bay and various types of native butterflies. Past the reflecting pool, Villaseñor framed a view of the Pacific. (October 2006)

Photo: Michael Calderwood

A short drive from Guadalajara, Tlaquepaque is known for its fine arts and crafts. At local shop Orno, Adrian Guerrero uses the space to showcase his crackle-glazed ceramics with insect motifs. (April 2005)

Photo: Scott Frances

College friends and partners in a Santa Monica design firm, SPI, Alison Palevsky and Sarah Shetter recently renovated the Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, weekend house Palevsky shares with her husband, Alexander. The designers had floor-to-ceiling windows installed “to create a seamless transition between the living and pool areas,” says Shetter. Existing concrete banquettes were extended to increase the seating area. (April 2006)

Photo: Michael Calderwood

A walled compound, left foreground, believed to be 300 years old is situated in the historic district of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. The owners, Nick and Betty Coates, retained all exterior walls in accordance with the city’s strict architectural preservation codes. (August 2004)

Photo: David O. Marlow

The Museo Dolores Olmedo Patino in Xochimilco, Mexico, houses the world’s largest collections of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo paintings. Above: Rivera and Dolores Olmedo in 1955, with La Tehuana, the last of many portraits he painted of her. (January 1998)

Designed by the late Canadian architect John King, a Moorish-style house in Ajijic, Mexico, is now owned by Robert and Judy Welch. The bright palette, developed by Judy Welch, is offset in the dining loggia and pool area by agapanthus, trumpet vine and bougainvillea. “At high altitudes, the air and light have a clarity that requires one’s color sense to adjust,” she says. (August 2007)

Photo: Scott Frances

Architect Luis Bosoms, of Plan Arquitectos, incorporated 17th-century ruins into his design for the hotel Hacienda Puerta Campeche. Interior designer Carlos Villela hung Baccarat chandeliers in the bar, which was modeled after local cantinas. (August 2006)

Photo: Michael Calderwood

Architect Christopher H. L. Owen has restored and expanded a property near Xilitla, Mexico. Begun by art patron Edward James, it was once part of the gardens of Las Pozas. The concrete sculptures, including La Casa de las Plantas, were made by James in the early 1980s. (August 2005)